The call to follow Jesus is not just about what we do, it’s also about who we become. Perhaps the most important thing God is doing in your life is not what he is doing through you but rather what he is doing in you. The scriptures say that people look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. Who you are becoming is God’s most important work in your life. We tend to focus our time and attention on what we are doing – what we are accomplishing – the projects of our lives – our accumulation of possessions, our development of our careers, our achievements in life. But following Jesus is not just about what we do, it’s also about who we become. Are you becoming a person of fervent prayer? Are you growing in generosity? Are you seeing more of the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control in your life – or less? Who are you becoming?
If you want to know who you are becoming, look at your desires. What is it that your heart desires? What are your eyes and ears attuned to see and want? What does your body crave? Jesus would sometimes ask people, what do you want? Because our wants, our desires kind of reveal what and who we worship. I read a great story recently….
It’s a story about a farmer from a rural part of the country. And this farmer comes to visit a relative in a major city. They’re walking down the busy and noisy main street, amidst the clamor and confusion and traffic and general hubbub of the city at rush hour. And just then, a fire truck goes by, siren blazing. And the farmer says, “Listen: I hear a cricket over yonder.” The relative — the carefully conditioned city dweller — replies, “How can you hear a cricket in the middle of all this?” The chirp of a cricket in the very core of a buzzing city — we can’t hear that, right? But the farmer, unfazed, says, “I figure you hear what you’re listening for.” And with that, he takes the spare change from his pants pocket and drops it on the ground. And at the almost imperceptible sound of a few coins hitting the sidewalk, children stop in their tracks, heads turn, notice is taken.
Sounds about right, doesn’t it? Most of us would hear the coins and miss the crickets.
Susie Grade 